Sioux City Journal: THE REGULARS: Let’s commit to zero tolerance for the use of pornography

The White Ribbons Against Pornography (WRAP) campaign (WRAP Week begins today) started in 1987 as a result of one woman’s passion to eliminate hard-core pornography from her community. A local group tied to the national organization Morality in Media (today called the National Center on Sexual Exploitation) began in 1962 and adopted WRAP as one of its activities; I was part of the local group for a time. I innately knew pornography had a dehumanizing effect on children and women, something confirmed by Attorney General Ed Meese’s Commission on Pornography in 1986.

Previously, the 1982 Johnny Gosch abduction in West Des Moines deeply affected me. Shortly after that, I attended a John Walsh seminar. What he learned in his search for his son’s killer would curl your hair, it was that horrific. I remember Walsh talking about the practice of selling children on auction blocks to mostly pedophile rings and the turning of children into sexual animals because of extreme sexual abuse. He understood the connection between the use of pornography and sexual abuse of children.

Science has finally confirmed what should be common sense, that pornography harms the viewer and the victim in the pornography. Pornography has created an overpowering addiction for many men, women and children. As a result of society’s inaction, a culture was created where most children believe it is acceptable to view pornography without consequences.

Founded in 1962, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) is the leading national organization exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation such as child sexual abuse, prostitution, sex trafficking and the public health crisis of pornography.